TFS Reviews

We used TFS for our repository, maintaining the source code, and automating certain deployments from Dev to QA. We implemented automated scripts for testing. These are the main uses of TFS including versioning, product versioning, maintaining different branches for different clients, and having different code repositories.

Since we also use it for product management, release management is a significant aspect for product management companies. We have to ensure that the code and database are completely and fully maintained with all necessary components. Many of our team members use TFS because they use it for check-in and check-out of their codes while working, ensuring that nobody overwrites their code.

For test capabilities, it is always a mix. Where there is a licensing requirement, based on the number of licenses the team has, we utilize JMeter and Selenium. These are preferred wherever I had been, primarily because of cost reasons.

Version control is the most basic feature in TFS. It has been there since the beginning. We use it primarily for that purpose.

Basically ensuring that the code is not overwritten by other team members and maintaining the sanctity of the code. Bringing order to a disparate team which is virtual at different locations is very important, and TFS provides that control. Once you update a code, nobody can modify it until you are done working on it and check in.

It is a great product that revolutionized the way teams work together on Microsoft pieces of code. The versioning part has unique features and capabilities which are unmatched with other products out there.

From a testing perspective, while the build and deploy automation capability and pipeline integration are already present to a great extent, these are areas where TFS can improve further.

I have been using TFS since it was released, approximately 20 years ago.

The setup process is really simple and not complex.

This solution is based on organizational needs, not personal choice. There are different requirements that organizations need to address, and everything cannot be just TFS. Multiple checks and balances have to be in place where different tools come in handy.

For the purpose it was built, TFS does the job excellently. We have to look at the purpose of TFS. If Team Foundation Server is defined for something, then it should be used for that purpose. I cannot suggest adding SharePoint site capability or team project capabilities because this is a different tool. It has accomplished its intended purpose.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution a 7.

We use TFS for our Agile board to handle our sprints, epics, stories, and tasks, tracking how work is progressing. It is also a repository for managing code changes.

TFS integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio and Azure Cloud, facilitating continuous integration and continuous deployment, which enhances the development workflow.

A notable feature of TFS is its ease of creating user stories and tasks, which simplifies the process of adding and editing them. The integration with Azure DevOps also offers seamless functionality for CI/CD processes.

While there are always areas to improve, I am content with how TFS is structured now, particularly the Azure version. There might be some complexity in its off-cloud versions.

I have been using the repository component of TFS for at least fifteen years and the Agile management component since around 2012, making it between six to ten years.

TFS integrates well, especially with Microsoft Azure. I did not mention any stability issues.

I can't speak much about scalability, specifically regarding resource allocation across various servers and users.

I have used Microsoft's customer service and support, and I would rate it nine out of ten, as nothing is perfect.

Positive

We've used both TFS and Jira for Agile management. However, I find Jira a bit cumbersome compared to TFS, especially in time management where TFS offers more flexibility.

Integrating TFS with Visual Studio and Azure Cloud has improved our development processes by providing better integration and reducing errors, particularly when compared to Jira.

In addition to TFS, we use Jira for Agile management.

When targeting Azure for development, use TFS as it integrates perfectly with Microsoft products. Avoid using tools like Jira that aren’t as compatible.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I've worked with TFS for source control and Agile project management. We also used TFS for seamless team collaboration and tracking. 

I used TFS for a couple of years. Now, we use Azure DevOps. It's a wonderful tool for source control and CI/CD pipelines.

It's a really valuable tool for development projects, especially. We can leverage TFS, or even now Azure DevOps, for the entire lifecycle process.

Version control is excellent. Without it, all the development would not be possible.

From a reporting point of view, it could be more convenient for filtering and segregating. It could have been even better.

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

There were over a hundred users. Everyone in the company used it. 

I had internal team in my company for support. 

I deal with many Microsoft technologies. In the last twenty years, I've been working with .NET. I started my career with Microsoft .NET 1.1 onwards. 

It's not complex. The initial setup is easy to understand and use. 

For the deployment process, we are purely using a CI/CD pipeline, and all our deployments are on Azure cloud.

TFS impacted the cost efficiency and productivity of our software development projects.

We used to use it for everything: planning, estimation, task assignments, tracking, source control, code review, branching, and merging strategies. Everything is wonderful.

I used the licensed version.  

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. I recommend to use it. 

My primary use case is within the organization's work environment, which is mainly focused on Microsoft products and TFS as part of our corporate IT infrastructure.

TFS allows me to handle automated builds and release management quite easily. It is user-friendly with a straightforward drag and drop interface, which makes it easier for me to create builds and release pipelines without needing to program YAML files. This setup is especially beneficial to me compared to GitLab.

TFS has room for improvement as there have been global security issues that many companies, including ours, have experienced. There are glitches, such as runners getting stuck, deployments generating errors, and it's becoming outdated. 

TFS is not as fast, easy to use, or configurable as GitLab, despite moving into the cloud.

TFS has been used before my tenure, so the company has been using it for many years.

Its stability is lacking as we have encountered security leaks and glitches. Runners can get stuck, and deployments sometimes face errors.

I have never been involved with TFS support, however, as a Microsoft product, it might have limited global documentation or support options compared to GitLab.

Negative

We are in the process of switching from TFS to GitLab as TFS lacks the ease of configuration, cloud-based functionality, and security features that GitLab offers.

While I do not know the exact pricing, TFS is likely more expensive than GitLab.

I have used Google Hangouts personally, and as a company, we are considering GitLab.

TFS would benefit from having global tutorials or documentation like GitLab. The security issues should be addressed, and incorporating AI integration like Copilot could be beneficial.

I'd rate the solution six out of ten.

For customers, we work in banking, finance, and healthcare domains, where there is a huge amount of data from customers and other types of applications and databases. We access this data for automation purposes. Many times, we utilize TFS for this type of thing.

Currently, we are focusing on the security features of TFS, such as the Credential Vault. We use it to store all credentials securely and provide access to specific stakeholders.

TFS should have capabilities similar to Git, like storing all types of artifacts in the repository. It should offer features that allow DevOps teams to track the changes made to the source code or by developers and generate automated reports and dashboards. This would make it easier to monitor and get information without searching through logs manually.

I've worked with TFS for more than three to four years.

Once TFS is installed, there are no major issues. I would rate the stability at seven out of ten.

The scalability is good because TFS is backed by Microsoft, allowing easy integration with other Microsoft applications. It supports a range of capabilities which can be utilized effectively. I would rate the scalability at seven out of ten.

There are some issues with the support team as we need to wait for a long time to get a response. The SLA needs to be improved. Direct communication, such as chat, to showcase screens would help resolve issues faster. I would rate the customer support at five out of ten.

Neutral

The initial setup was somewhat challenging, taking two to three days the first time due to our inexperience. We faced issues such as getting appropriate access and connecting TFS with our current environment. Once we prepared documentation, subsequent setups were easier and quicker, taking only two to three hours.

There are many version control options available in the market. From a costing and licensing perspective, I would rate it around six out of ten. It is not the cheapest product, but it offers good value for money.

I would recommend TFS to anyone planning to use it. It offers valuable features, though they need to be improved over time.

I'd rate the solution six out of ten.

We do a user story for a use case, which is like a snapshot of one pass through a use case. We tend to align them with the branches in Git. We have story branches created in Git and edited in TFS, which correspond to user stories based on a use case.

The solution's iteration board is good because you can track all your work with it. In TFS, you can do pull requests, trigger builds automatically, and gate them so that they're reviewed thoroughly before you release them. It is a good practice that makes things a lot easier.

If you've got 100 iterations and you create a new story and try to select which iterations, it doesn't default to the current iteration. You have to scroll right down to iteration 100 in the drop-down list. It would be good if it defaulted to the current iteration rather than having to go down a long drop-down list to select it when it's right at the end.

IBM ClearCase has something called a Version Tree, where you can see all the commits and updates to the configuration as a series of nodes in a tree diagram. You can also do mergers from the different branches using that. I'd like to see some kind of visualization tool for TFS that would make life much easier.

I have been using TFS for six to seven years.

I rate TFS ten out of ten for stability.

Hundreds of users in our organization use TFS.

I rate TFS a nine or ten out of ten for scalability.

The solution's initial setup is not too difficult. The people who set it up were experts who could quickly get it up and running. So, it looked like the setup was straightforward for them.

TFS is deployed on the cloud in our organization.

Overall, I rate TFS an eight out of ten.

We use TFS for bug detection and incident management. 

TFS' most valuable feature is the triage process. It is a robust solution that is easy to use. 

The tool needs improvement in stability. 

I have been using the solution for three years. 

I rate the tool's stability a seven out of ten. 

TFS' scalability is quite good. My company has 25 users. 

TFS' deployment is simple. You need about five to seven resources to handle the deployment and maintenance. 

We have seen ROI with the tool's use. 

The tool's licensing costs are yearly. 

I rate TFS an eight out of ten. 

We use TFS for forecast management.

The tool is sufficient for our business.

We encounter issues with backups.

I have been using the solution for three to four years.

TFS' stability is fine.

I rate the tool's scalability an eight out of ten.

The solution's technical support is very good.

TFS is easy to install. We had a team of two to three persons to handle the deployment.

TFS is a scalable and useful solution. I rate it a seven out of ten.

We use TFS for volume control, source checking, and source control.

The most valuable feature of TFS is that it keeps the code secure while working collaboratively in a team of four or five individuals.

We have different teams working on different solutions using different technology sets. At the backend, it has good source control. We work with Microsoft technology stack, open source stack, as well as IBM stack. We have different teams working on the backend with TFS as our source control.

I would like to see TFS improve its web interface as there are some limitations with IDs and the integration behind it and with open-source tools like VS Code.

As a version control, we have found some inconsistencies related to updates from previous versions. If you set up the Git repository, and you want to change it back to TFS, it is a bit confusing now in the latest update. We were hung up when two repositories were intermingled together. We were confused about why the Git project was not converting to TFS. I believe Microsoft is supporting the Git repositories. 

The TFS TFVC is not user-friendly because, for Git repositories that you have already created to use the TFS repositories, you need to go back into the ID to Video Studio when the TFS repository comes up by default.

Using the web interface, by default you get the Git repository. For a team that is not familiar with this and is not using the ID as a video studio or VS, code management gets difficult. Even with VS Code as an open source ID, TFS at the backend as a repository is difficult and integration is complex.

I have been using TFS on a daily basis for five years.

So far, I have found TFS to be stable.

The solution is scalable, however, we do not need to scale because we do not have many people on each team. The administration part requires three or four people, and for development teams, we have about 15 team members who actively use VS Code.

The initial setup of TFS is really just a click. It is basic and not complex.

We deployed the solution in-house.

Our organization has an enterprise license with TFS.

We explored other sources before. We also used some open-source tools.

We are considering trying another solution as we don't find TFS assistance or community help when compared to Git.

TFS is a good solution once you get comfortable using it. If you are coming from TFS 2013 or TFS 2015, you are going to find the 2019 version different. I understand that TFS is moving towards the cloud, so all the features are designed with this in mind. In the 2019 version, you will see more DevOps-related tools and automated app tools.

The solution is easy and complex at the same time. If you are familiar with pipelines, you will find it interesting. You need a technical team to provide help and assistance to get the whole value from 2000 DevOps TFVC. If you are not actually fully exploring the feature set or using them, it is just another source control like any other open-source control.

If you gain experience with the iron value sets with TFVC DevOps, the whole project management will be smooth and stable. Releases will come out but all the hiccups between the teams, such as the development teams, QA teams, and deployment teams will smooth out. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten overall.

TFS needs to be stable.

I have been using the solution for six months. 

I rate the tool's stability an eight out of ten. 

My company has more than 50 users. 

The tool's installation is straightforward. 

I have seen ROI with the tool's use. 

TFS is expensive, and the licensing costs are yearly. I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.